A huge granite gate welcomes Kanwarias in Jharkhand. (Below) For these women from Rajasthan, age is no bar. In their sixties, the women find the 110-km journey a little price to pay after their prayers were answered by Lord Shiva. Picture by Ravi Pratap

Deoghar, Aug. 30: A tide of over 35 lakh saffron-clad Kanwarias descended on the 110-km Kanwaria road from Sultanganj (Bihar) to Deoghar on the Shravani Purnima today.

Pilgrims from different parts of the country as well as Nepal and Bhutan walked barefoot carrying water from the Ganga to worship Lord Baidyanath (Shiva).

Due to the change in the lunar calendar this year, the Shravani mela, which commences from July 3, lasted for two months this time, instead of one.

Chants of Bol Bam and Bol Bam ka nara hai, Baba ek sahara hai rent the air round-the-clock and pilgrims who arrived on the bank of river Ganga during the period — after fetching the water from the river — proceeded towards Deoghar. A family was out on pilgrimage for the first time and was all set for the journey.

Amit Mishra, his wife Archana and children, from Gaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, reached Sultanganj railway station on August 24.

Earlier, Mishra’s parents used to visit the mela every year but due to the ill-health of Mishra’s father, his family decided to come this time.

“We were worried when we reached Sultanganj station. The place was thronging with saffron-clad people but had no arrangements. We had heard about Lalooland but never imagined such mismanagement,” Archana said. More mismanagement was in store throughout the journey till they reached their destination. They purchased Kanwars (made of bamboo sticks to carry water from the Ganga) and engaged a priest for Sankalpa (oath-taking before the journey).

“We were thrilled to witness the Ganga arati in the evening on the riverbank and realised how important the river is for us,” Ruchika, Mishra’s daughter said.

A police officer briefed them that the district administration of Bhagalpur had arranged special puja and arati every evening to save the river from rampant pollution.

At around 11 pm, they reached Kamroy (10 km from Munger district) and rested there.

The roadside dhabas were working overtime catering to the pilgrims. “We will walk at night because it is not possible to continue the journey during the day in this heat,” said Dharmanath, a truck driver from Assam.

But heat and dust were not deterrents for the Mishras.

At the break of dawn, they set out and reached Tarapur (25-km from Munger) via Asarganj and Shambhuganj in the afternoon.

Late in the evening, the family reached Dhouri Dharmasala (37-km) after crossing the river Kumarsar—bordering Banka and Munger.

But everywhere the situation was chaotic — there was no government machinery in sight.

Some pilgrims complained that on the road they had to face the ire of members of some so-called religious organisations who extorted money from them.

But for Mishra’s children, the journey was a learning experience. The children were thrilled by the renderings of Bom. They found everyone on the Kanwaria route calling each other’s names along with Bom — Mishra Bom, police Bom or doctor Bom.

There was a code of conduct for all the pilgrims. “As a Kanwaria proceeds to Deoghar with Ganga jal, s/he has to follow a code of conduct till they reach the place of worship. This is pertinent because lakhs of pilgrims, not only from different parts of the country but also from abroad, make the journey. You might not find pilgrims fighting till they reach the end. But afterwards, you might find them clashing on a bus or a train on their return journey,” Bikram Jha, a resident of Madhubani, said.

The pilgrims reached Abrakha Dharamsala (66 km) by noon the next day and had travelled some extra kilometres because it started raining.

They then reached Suiya Pahari (where pointed small stones on the hilly terrain left the pilgrims with sore feet).

“The roads were even more inaccessible earlier. Thanks to former Bihar chief minister Jagannath Mishra things have changed. He constructed better roads for the pilgrims when his wife walked from Sultanganj to Deoghar,” said Dina Singh of Bokaro steel sector, who has been coming here for the past 30 years.

“We came for the holy voyage with faith and we know Lord Shiva will save us,” Naresh Doraji of Sikkim said. Earlier, armed road robbers had looted the group of foreign tourists at Jilibiamore.

Like Naresh, a majority of the pilgrims ventured out for the tedious journey of faith.

The real ordeal for the Mishra family began as soon as they entered Deoghar via Darshaniya. “We reached Deoghar at around 2 pm and had to wait for more than 12 hours to worship,” Mishra said.

Sitting on the platform of Jasidih railway station today, the family described how difficult it was to worship at Baidynath temple.

“The six-day journey on inaccessible roads was nothing compared to the horrible experience inside Baba temple,” said Archana, who could not enter the sanctum sanctorum of Baidyanath temple.

Like her, many pilgrims were victims of the prevailing mismanagement of the Deoghar administration.